Fun Fact: Samsung Is Ukraine’s Top Advertiser on File-Sharing Sites

A coalition of media outlets in Ukraine has exposed Samsung as the frontrunner of advertisers on the country’s largest file-sharing sites, ex.ua and fs.ua. Torrentfreak first reported the ‘outing’.

Ukraine has a reputation for being a piracy haven, branded by the US on the USTR’s priority watchlist.

In order to counter this negative image, a group of media outlets launched the “Clear Sky” initiative to find solutions to online piracy. With the help of research company InMind, the group found that 10 percent of all ads on the two sites are financed by international brands, of which 4.2% come from Samsung.

Other brands include Nokia, Cannon, and CocaCola.

(Image provided by TorrentFreak)

The biggest concern for Clear Sky is that 40 percent of the Ukrainian population is exposed to these ads by global brands, giving off the ambiguous impression that the file-sharing sites are legitimate entertainment outlets.